The Wiltern

Doesn't Recommend

Andrea D.

Joined 2 years ago

Ticket to stand behind other people. I saw Colbie Caillat here and I could not see her because I was standing. Buying a ticket meant simply the right to walk in and stand behind a crowd of people taller than I am (5-0"). They make a lot more money by pulling out the seats and pretending it is a party rather than a paid concert and cramming as many people as can possibly stand up next to each other. We also waited in a line that wound around the block for about half a mile just to walk in and stand. If you are going out in order to socialize with friends or even strangers, this is actually a better venue for that since you can move around rather than be constrained to talking only to the person on your right or left. But if you want to see an act, you need to go very early and stand at the front of any section you can get the front row in or else be very tall. The sound was ok, not terrible.

Recommends

57sparks

Joined 4 years ago

wrong phone number. favorite place to see bands. Acoustics great, employees mostly nice, always a celeb sighting, wish they had good bands more often BUT their food (pretzels and candy) is whack. Have seen Pete Yorn twice, Chris Cornell, Raconteurs, Kathy Griffin, Neil Young (acoustic, alone!), and others in the last few years.

Recommends

dmrich23

Joined 3 years ago

Great place. This was a great place to visit.

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smgradman

Joined 7 years ago

Your info is wrong. Your info page says smoking is allowed. The Wiltern in an indoor venue. It's in California. Therefore there is NO SMOKING anywhere at the Wiltern, except out on the street.

Recommends

grabtrees

Joined 5 years ago

yay. i like this venue for having all seats. the sound is nice and big and theatrical, and you can see anywhere you sit so thats a major plus

Doesn't Recommend

crystalann07

Joined 5 years ago

Molested, Ravaged and Violated!!. Generally I enjoy my experiance at The Wiltern but last night was my worst experiance ever! The Staff was extremely rude and unpleasent. When it came time to be searched this nasty rude security guard yanked my bag out of my hand and started to toss everything around pulling everything and searching through every crevase of my bag when i asked her if she was really allowed to search my bag in such a manner ( because i really felt violated, molested, ravaged) she didn't look me in the face to tell me that it was company policy she just giggled like i had told the funniest joke... I had never been searched in such a manner and so many girls were walking past me with bigger bags and not being searched i didn't even get scanned with the metal detector.... is that company policy too? It was COMPLETELY UNPROFESSIONAL!! She ended up finding my boyfriends little bit of herb and tiny pipe that i carry around for my boyfriend because he has really bad asthma. We told her we had a valid prescription which allows us to carry it on us and she still didn't care. still took it and tossed it. I have never been treated that way ever. Not even by security in larger venues or much more bigger shows......

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kiercemartin

Joined 5 years ago

My favorite General Admission Venue. This is easily one of the top 5 venues in LA. Really classy old-school interior makes you feel like you're in Carnegie or something, rather than a couple miles off of the 405. If you get there a little bit early you're bound to get a good spot, if you don't mind standing the pit's great, but I'd definitely recommend the first level tables over anything else. The bar offers a solid selection of pretty much everything, and all the times I've been there I've never had a problem with any of the staff. If you're looking for a good show, this is the place to see it. A must-see in LA for sure.

Recommends

fneagermthrfr

Joined 6 years ago

Get their early. As long as you arrive early (in southern california that means on time), you should get a good space. I arrived a little after 8pm and got a good space on the 2nd level, front row. I saw BRMC and black angels and the sound quality overall was pretty bad. They amp up the volume so high, and in such a small venue, the electric guitars reverberate too much. Could barely make out the vocals.

Best part about the wiltern is how intimate it is. Very tiny venue. I was about 15 feet from the band, for a very cheap ticket price. Thats the best reason to attend the wiltern, is to see your fave band up close, which normally you may not have the option of.

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juju13es

Joined 6 years ago

bad view.. I remember coming here to watch Ben Folds a few years back, and it was quite the experience. The whole venue isn't too large, but large enough to hold a good amount of people. There's no assigned seating or seating at all, for that matter, so people just have to make their way and stand wherever they can. This can cause quite a problem when you're 5'3 and standing behind people that are a lot taller than you~ The ground is also pretty leveled, so it's even more impossible to see if you're standing near the back. I remember my friend got in a verbal fight with this extremely tall giant of a woman because she wouldn't let us stand in front of her. But on the bright side, Ben was awesome.

Doesn't Recommend

palolokid1

Joined 6 years ago

Great views... if you're 6'6"!. Saw Coldplay there in 2001, that was the last time I saw seats in the venue. That was a great show. Sure, the renovations may have made the place a little more shiney, and maybe even improved the sound quality, but what good is that, if 50% of the people in the crowd can hardly see the stage. The problem is, when all the seats were taken out, all that remained were four or five tiers, that rise a foot or so with each tier, BUT they are all FLAT. This means the further back you are, the more level you are with the stage, meaning, if you aren't in the front two rows of each tier, or you're not at least 6'6" - YOU AIN'T SEEING ANYTHING! I was just there to see Keane last Friday and someone at the venue had the brilliant idea of putting chairs back in there. They were lined up nicely and the height of the charis increased as they reached the rear of each section. Sounds good, in theory. However, what happens when the music starts? Duuuh, everyone stands up, of course. Now we're back where we started, but with chairs in the way too. As the show went on all the seats in the back rows were empty, as the people snuck up to the front of the venue. Replacing the fixed seats on an incline, like it was in the good old days, would be nice, but obviously that won't happen (too expensive). Now I'm no engineer, but to me, a simple fix would be to just get some wood and make each tier incline a bit. Obviously, nothing unsafe, just enough of an angle to make the people in the back of the section taller than the people in the front. BRILLIANT! C'mon Wiltern, you're a great venue, with so much history. You consistently get the best bands to play. Now, all your customers ask of you, is a little common sense!?!?! The people have to be able to see the stage.